A Buddhist monk releases birds, symbolizing the spirits of the victims of the 2004 tsunami. This Chinese tradition of analogy was taken up by the demonstrators in Hong Kong.
Samantha Sin/AFP
Hong Kong protesters deeply identify with nature, a reference to the current environmental crisis but also a fluid conception of collective action that is inscribed in ancient Chinese tradition.
As China’s challenges mount, can Xi Jinping continue to maintain economic growth and social stability without losing the party’s absolute political control?
U.S. President Donald Trump, seen here in a February 2018 photo, has a beef with trade deficits. Yet running trade deficits with Asian countries has long spurred American spending and consumption.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Chinese official media casts President Xi Jinping as an anti-corruption crusader; critics say he’s authoritarian. The reality is that he is a man of contrasts whose traits are difficult to pin down.
Clive Hamilton paints a picture of China’s unrelenting determination not only to control those within the country, but also to dominate the world using whatever means at its disposal.
AAP/Wang Zhou
Clive Hamilton’s book is perhaps a useful reminder that we must not be naïve about our relationship with China, but his prescription is the wrong direction for tackling the genuine issues he raises.
Xi Jinping votes on a constitutional amendment lifting presidential term limits.
REUTERS/Jason Lee
Stanley Rosen, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Recent changes to China’s constitution signal loud and clear that any hope for a path to democracy must be checked with reality.
Chinese President Xi Jinping claps while addressing the media in October 2017 as he introduces new members of the Politburo Standing Committee at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Any naive hopes for a peaceful evolution to democracy in China are shattered against the reality that it’s now a one-man dictatorship. What does it mean for the West?
Education empowers young people like Sarah Nasira, a Kenyan pupil leading a class.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
Authors Lutz and Klingholz explore how mass literacy became a revolution that changed the world.
The controversial $12-billion sale of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia has embroiled Justin Trudeau’s government in controversy. The vehicle in question is shown here at a news conference at a General Dynamics facility in London, Ont., in 2012.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Spowart
Canada used to be more careful about selling arms to countries that practised human rights violations. What happened?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China in December 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada’s “progressive trade agenda” with China might have died in the Great Hall of the People earlier this month. But there’s now an opportunity for a serious reconsideration of the relationship.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews the guard of honour on a state visit to Zimbabwe.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Cobus van Staden, South African Institute of International Affairs e Chris Alden, London School of Economics and Political Science
A narrow interest in whether Beijing actively pushed for Mugabe’s fall is based on the assumption that the China-Africa relationship is an isolated phenomenon.
Zimbabweans welcome Emmerson Mnangagwa back from his brief exile in South Africa.
EPA-EFE/Aaron Ufumeli
The staging in Melbourne of this classic of the Cultural Revolution has attracted controversy. And amid Bermuda shorts and weapons galore, this political ballet has contemporary resonances.
Buddhist monks pray in front of a picture of Thailand’s new king at Wat Pho temple in Bangkok on December 1.
Jorge Silva/Reuters
It would be short-sighted to believe that a more far-reaching transformation than a royal succession might not also be in store for the Kingdom of Thailand.
A glimpse of China’s ‘export machine’ at Ningbo port in Zhejiang province.
Reuters
China’s goods are everywhere, thanks to the gains China has made from trade and foreign investment. Now that China wants to return the favor, the US may risk losing out if it chooses to turn inward.
A paramilitary policeman stands guard under a giant portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate in Beijing.
Damir Sagolj/Reuters
In China, art is called upon to promote the Communist Party’s agenda. But the staging of concerts here commemorating Mao Zedong’s death poses thorny questions about artistic freedom.
A woman waits backstage during the recording of the dating show ‘Meet you on Saturday.’
Carlos Barria/Reuters
Bruce Beresford can’t draw, but he has wept in an art gallery. A lifelong delight in a wide range of art – from paintings to opera – has influenced his craft from a young age.
Paying respects in Mao’s home town.
EPA/How Hwee Young